Gujarat University's Vice-Chancellor Parimal Trivedi, who has been facing arrest for alleged caste slur on a colleague, on Tuesday surrendered before the city police, which arrested him. Trivedi was later released on bail by the metropolitan magistrate's court.

The SC/ST cell of the city police had said a day earlier that Trivedi was avoiding arrest and had gone into hiding.

On Tuesday, Trivedi's family members reportedly informed the SC/ST cell that he was at Tarunanagar on Gurukul Road. A police team arrested Trivedi from there at 9 am.

DySP K R Bhuva, who is in-charge of the SC/ST cell, said, "Trivedi's son called us up saying his father was back in Ahmedabad and the police could take him in custody. Trivedi was taken to the Metropolitan Court where he was given bail. We have questioned him several times but he had all along denied having made casteist remarks."

Trivedi was arrested in connection with a case filed by Pankaj Shrimali, head of the history department at L & C Mehta Arts College, in May 2008. Shrimali had alleged that the V-C had passed casteist remarks against him when he confronted him for removing him as deputy coordinator of the university's central assessment committee.

Alleging police inaction, Shrimali had moved the High Court in March 2011 seeking directions to the police to finish the probe, arrest the accused and file a chargesheet.

Following an HC order in January this year, the SC/ST cell had questioned Trivedi on January 24.

New Delhi: Taking a serious note of the hand chopping incident of a Dalit labourer in Haryana, National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Saturday said the accused would not be spared and shall be booked under appropriate sections of Prevention of Atrocities Act.

The Commission also deputed a central team to undertake on-the-spot investigations and to prescribe relief and rehabilitation measures to victim Rajesh Ranga alias Raju, whose arm was chopped off by a man belonging to the upper caste for drinking water from his pitcher.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Chairman P L Punia said the Commission is committed to deliver justice to members of SCs and in such cases, the accused would not be spared and will be booked under the appropriate sections of the POA Act, 1989.

The incident took place in Daulatpur village of Haryana's Hisar district.

"In order to perform Constitutional duties, atrocity cases against members of Dalit communities are viewed seriously and justice is provided irrespective of any political party," Punia said in a statement here.

The NCSC Chairman said he immediately contacted District Magistrate Amit Agrawal and Superintendent of Police Ashwin Shenvi and enquired about the incident.

A central team under Joint Secretary T Theethan was deputed to see the victim and for detailed investigations, he said.

"The District Magistrate informed that the victim was provided monetary assistance of Rs 50,000 and provided free treatment at a private hospital. The state government has also sanctioned a sum of Rs 3 lakh as a part of rehabilitation package. The SP informed that the accused was arrested and a charge sheet is being filed soon," the statement said.

According to the police, Ranga, a daily wager of Sanyana village in Haryana's Fatehabad district, had gone in search of work in Daulatpur village.

The labourer had stopped to drink water from the pitcher of Rajendar, a farmer. But hardly had the Dalit touched the pitcher, the farmer got enraged and attacked him with a sickle. PTI

Riot victims at Tikabali camp in the Kandhamal district of Orissa display their voter ID cards before casting votes during the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

A fast track court in Odisha's Kandhamal district on Thursday sentenced five persons to rigorous imprisonment for two years in connection with the 2008 communal riots.

Fast track court-II judge Biranchi Narayan Mishra convicting the five persons also imposed Rs 5,000 fine on each of them and ordered additional jail term for six months in case of non-payment of penalty amount.

The court, however, acquitted two accused persons for lack of evidence.

The seven people had been arrested for their involvement in rioting and burning down of houses at Nilungia village under G Udayagiri on August 24, 2008, a day after VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati was killed at his Jalaspeta ashram in the district.

HISAR: In a macabre act of caste violence, a Dalit youth in Saniyana village was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon and had his arm nearly chopped off for drinking water from an earthen pot belonging to an upper caste family.

While doctors have stitched up his arm, the police arrested one Rajender of Daulatpur village and booked him under SC/ST Act.

Cuttack: After examining the Pipili rape victim at SCB medical college and hospital here, a senior AIIMS doctor on Monday said there was no need to shift her elsewhere at this stage.

Manjari Tripathy said the treatment at Cuttack hospital was at par with the New Delhi hospital. She, however, suggested that the duration of physiotherapy should be enhanced and the music therapy should continue.

As per the direction of Orissa High Court and a requisition from the doctors on duty, Tripathy along with her team came here to examine the victim who is in coma ever since she was allegedly gang raped in November last year.

The 19-year-old girl underwent an examination for nearly two hours.

The girl has been undergoing treatment in the ICU of the hospital since January 13 this year following intervention of the HC.

"The patient is suffering from hypoxic damage to brain and recovery, if occurs, shall take a long time and she does not need any surgical intervention now," Tripathy said.

She also maintained that the complaints of bedsores to patient are fairly normal in such conditions and these could be avoided by nursing care alone. "I am sure the nursing care facility here is up to the standard and the patient need not be shifted from here to any other facility," she said.

The Orissa High Court while directing the SCB hospital doctors to provide better treatment facility to the victim had asked them to ensure that she does not suffer from bedsores and accordingly suggested that a trained matron and nurse be deputed for the patient.

Denying the recent media reports that the patient has developed bedsores, hospital emergency officer BN Maharana said the patient had already developed bedsores in her scalp and back before she was admitted to the hospital. "However, due to better care in the hospital, the existing bedsores are healing gradually," Maharana said.

.Arun KhoteOn behalf ofDalits Media Watch Team(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")...................................................................Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.